Radar Systems Modelling: Class Photograph 2014

Course Information

Dates: 23-27 June 2014

Course code: EEE5112Z

Venue: CSIR, Pretoria

Course Description

A practical course, which requires a sound knowledge of Radar Systems and Signal Processing, and which teaches you how to used that knowledge to synthesise the design of a system to a requirement. This skill is essential when involved with the design of a sensor, or when evaluating the usefulness of a sensor for specific applications. The approach taken is in two parts: firstly, we analyse an existing system, to predict and compare performance against advertised radar parameters, and thereafter, we design improvements to the system, based on practicals and project work by the student. The system considered is just one example of the broad field of radar, i.e. air traffic control radar, but the systems thinking is widely applicable.

 

 

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Modelling 2014

Course Overview

The following topics will be covered:

  • What is air traffic control?
  • The ATCR family
  • Blake’s analysis
  • Clutter
  • Targets
  • The ATCR processing chain
  • Moving target indicator
  • Antennas
  • Reliability
  • Basics of pulse Doppler and Doppler processing
  • Principles of angle search and measurement in a surveillance radar
  • Radar and Doppler measurement uncertainties
  • Radar front end constraints
  • Modelling the detection process
  • Design trade-offs in pulse Dopper radar
  • Introduction to system engineering

Presenters

Prof Michael Inggs is an Emeritus Professor (since 2016) in the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Cape Town, South Africa, being the founder in 2011 of the taught masters programme in Radar. During 2015 he handed over the Convenorship of the Radar Masters, being on sabbatical leave before retirement at the end of 2016.

Michael Inggs was born and educated in the Eastern Cape, South Africa (Uitenhage and Grahamstown). He has an Honours degree in Physics and Applied Mathematics from Rhodes University (1973) and a PhD and DIC from Imperial College, London (1979). He is a Life Senior Member of the IEEE.

Prior to joining UCT, he held posts at Decca Radar Research Laboratories (UK), Raytheon Data Systems Company (USA), ESD Ltd (RSA) and the SA Naval Dockyard, Simon’s Town, South Africa. He joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Cape Town in 1988, as an Associate Professor and was promoted to full Professor in 2000. He has holds a Visiting Professorship at University College London, and has been a visiting Professor at TU Delft, Netherlands during 2015.

His research interests include radar, earth observation using radar, and high performance computing architectures and languages for signal and image processing. He has more than 200 journal and conference publications, four patents, and has supervised more than 100 M.Sc. and 20 Ph.D. to completion.

He was a member of the Administration Committee of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society 2011-2013, 2013 to 2016, as Director of Education. He was a member of the IEEE AESS Radar Panel until his retirement at the end of 2016, but remains as part of the Education Committee of this panel, assisting with Radar Summer Schools.

He currently is appointed at the Space Advisory Company as Principal Radar Systems Engineer.

 

Dr Jaco de Witt obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Pretoria, in 2004.

In 2011, he obtained his PhD degree in Electronic Engineering, from Stellenbosch University. His PhD thesis focussed on strategies to compensate for the non-idealities of analogue quadrature-mixing radio front-ends, using digital signal processing techniques.

In 2007, Dr De Witt joined the Radar and Electronic Warfare group at the CSIR in Pretoria, where he is currently employed as a senior radar systems engineer. At the CSIR, he has been involved in many radar-related activities, gaining technical experience in both the digital signal processing side, as well as hardware front-end design aspects related to high performance radar systems. As systems engineer, he has been involved in the development of multiple radar demonstrators and facilities, ranging from high-resolution radar systems, to compact airborne radar systems.

 

Kumaran Naicker obtained a BScEng (Electronics) degree from the University of Natal, in 2002.

In 2006, he obtained his MScEng (Electronic) (Cum Laude) at the University of KwaZulu Natal. Kumaran Naicker has worked in the Radar and Electronic Warfare group at the Defence Peace, Safety and Security (DPSS) at the CSIR since 2006.

As a senior researcher and systems engineer at CSIR, he has been involved in many radar-related activities, gaining technical experience in radar signal processing, radar signal analysis and radar performance modelling.

He is also active in the field of radio wave propagation, radar imaging and measurement techniques and Radar Cross Section (RCS) measurement and has published IEEE conference papers on these topics.